The present invention relates to devices and methods of dispensing, administering, injecting or delivering substances. More particularly, it relates to devices and methods for making injections, including autoinjectors for the automatic injection of an active substance, such as medicinal substances, insulin, etc.
Typically, such autoinjectors have a receptacle for the active substance, which receptacle, together with a connected injection needle, is displaceable within a housing by spring force for the purpose of inserting the injection needle. Such autoinjectors typically have a syringe piston, which, for the purpose of expelling the active substance, is displaceable within the receptacle through spring force, transfer means that transfer the spring force to the receptacle and/or to the syringe piston, holding means for holding the transfer means, and releasing means for causing the holding means to release the transfer means when the releasing means are brought from a first position into a second position.
Autoinjectors of the type mentioned above are known in many embodiments. One use they serve is for the self-administration of medication by a patient. Many of the known autoinjectors include a releasing safety device, which is intended to prevent an injection procedure from being inadvertently triggered. These releasing safety devices are, in most cases, components that block the releasing means from being activated. These components may be, for example, formed as slides that are movable in relation to the releasing means or as covers or stoppers that are to be removed prior to the injection. These additional components obviously increase the production costs of autoinjectors, as well as complicate their use.